CONSTRUCTION SET ON $37 MILLION LOMBARD APARTMENT COMPLEX

David IbataCHICAGO TRIBUNE

A development partnership plans to start construction this spring of Clover Creek, a $37 million apartment complex in west suburban Lombard.

The project will have 504 rental units, of which 20 percent will be for what the developers term low- and moderate-income households, according to Robert DiCostanzo, vice president of AHW Development Enterprises of Westmont. AHW and its joint-venture partner, the National Housing Partnership, will construct the complex on 34 acres on the west side of Finley Road immediately north of 22d Street.

The developers paid $1.8 million in December to acquire the site from VPRI REO Inc., a California investment group, according to John J. Cunnane, vice president of L.J. Sheridan & Co. of Chicago, which brokered the sale.

To help finance the project, the Village of Lombard in late January approved a $32.5 million, multifamily-housing revenue bond issue. The balance of construction funds will be raised through a National Housing Partnership syndication.

To ensure tax-exempt status for the bonds, the developers have promised to lease 20 percent of their units to tenants who earn no more than 80 percent of the area`s median income ($30,430 in Du Page County), he said. Unlike federal housing projects, Clover Creek will not subsidize tenants` rents.

AHW and the housing partnership expect to break ground about March 1, take their first tenants in the fall and be fully leased within 36 months, DiCostanzo said.

''The Chicago apartment market is extremely tight, and in Lombard, the vacancy rate is zero percent,'' he said. ''Major apartment projects in the area all have waiting lists, and there`s several million square feet of offices under construction in the Oak Brook-Lombard area. Rental housing is sorely needed.''

There will be nine 3-story apartment buildings with 128 one-bedroom apartments; 266 two-bedroom units; 46 two-bedroom-and-den apartment, and 64 three-bedroom residences, DiCostanzo said. Monthly rents will range from roughly $500 to $700. The project also will have outdoor parking, tennis courts and a clubhouse and swimming pool.

The architect will be AHW Architects & Engineers, an AHW subsidiary. The builder will be a joint venture involving A.H. Wunderlich Construction Management Co., another AHW unit, and Lombard Co., a general contracting firm based in Alsip.